Health

American Diabetes Association Makes Sweet Deal with Cadbury Schweppes

by Laura Miller — May 18, 2005 - 2:05pm

"If you are wondering why Americans are losing the wars on cancer, heart disease and diabetes, you might look at the funding sources of the major public health groups," Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman write. "Big corporations dump big money into these groups. And pretty soon, the groups start taking the line of the big corporations. Case in point: the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Earlier this month, the ADA cut a deal with candy and soda pop maker Cadbury Schweppes.

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Corp-Focus, May 16, 2005

Drug Industry Prescribes Self-Regulation

by Diane Farsetta — May 17, 2005 - 10:58am

According to former member of Congress Billy Tauzin, now the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's head lobbyist, "drug companies [are] trying to develop a voluntary code of conduct for the advertising of prescr

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New York Times, May 17, 2005

Oil and Rigorous Science Just Don't Mix

by Diane Farsetta — April 29, 2005 - 10:44am

A National Cancer Institute study found that "workers exposed to average levels of benzene" were four times more likely to develop cancer. Benzene is a component of gasoline, so tighter regulations would have "an impact on gasoline production," said a former Mobil Oil toxicologist.

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Houston Chronicle, April 29, 2005

Drugs: As Seen on TV

by Diane Farsetta — April 27, 2005 - 1:25pm

"Direct-to-consumer advertising - on which pharmaceutical companies spend roughly $3 billion a year - can trump medical need in influencing how doctors prescribe drugs," concludes a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For the study, actresses posed as patients with mild depression and either asked about a specific antidepressant, based on TV ads; asked about medications in general; or just described their symptoms.

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Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2005

Rules Enforced; Marketers Unhappy

by Diane Farsetta — April 26, 2005 - 1:54pm

Perhaps due to the Vioxx and teen antidepressant scandals, "the Food and Drug Administration is pelting drugmakers with letters warning that they have run afoul of promotional regulations." Advertising Age writes that the FDA's actions are "threatening to tip the $4 billion direct-to-consumer indu

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Advertising Age, April 25, 2005

Living Off the Fat of the Land

by Diane Farsetta — April 26, 2005 - 11:55am

The Center for Consumer Freedom, an industry-funded front group, launched a $600,000 ad campaign decrying the "hype" around obesity.

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Reuters, April 26, 2005

Porter Novelli's Pyramid Schemes

by Diane Farsetta — April 12, 2005 - 11:19am

"Missions that might be considered conflicting are not new for Porter Novelli," a PR firm that "has worked for both the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and for Guinness stout and Johnnie Walker Scotch." But Porter Novelli's $2.5 million contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update the food guide pyramid concerns some.

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New York Times, April 10, 2005

A Tick for Irresponsibility

by Bob Burton — April 6, 2005 - 5:41am

The 2005 Corporate Responsibility Index, published by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ranks British American Tobacco (BAT) as amongst the six worst performers out of the twenty-seven companies included. The index is based on corporate self-assessments reviewed by Ernst & Young accountants.

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Sydney Morning Herald, April 5, 2005

Hospitals Seek Healthy Revenues

by Diane Farsetta — March 29, 2005 - 11:26am

A study of newspaper ads for 17 top university medical centers found they "employ some of the same advertising techniques doctors often criticize drug companies for -- concealing risks and playing on fear, vanity and other emotions to attract patients." Of the 122 ads examined, 62% used emotional appeals and one-third "used slogans focusing on technology, fostering a misperception that high-tech medicine is always better." Twenty-one ads promoted specific services, including one proclaiming, "We do Botox!"

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Wall Street Journal (reg. req'd.), March 28, 2005
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